Push
by Dark Puck
Summary: Hyo, newly appointed Commander of the Dai Li, faces off against the Chief Mindbender, who delights in pushing any button he can find. OC-fic, Dai Li-centric.


_Do I attract you?__  
__Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?_

* * *

The Dai Li had changed vastly in the near-two decades since Hyo had been invited to join them. His joining had predated Long Feng's directorship and regency for King Kuei by two years - and thus had predated the change in city policy regarding the war. Unlike some of the older Dai Li, by the time Hyo had finished his training, the new policy had gone into effect, so he didn't have as much trouble adjusting to hiding the war.

However, until his appointment to the Commander's post, Hyo didn't understand _how_ much the Dai Li had changed. He had seen, as he grew older, that his uniform began to inspire more fear than respect, but he hadn't known _why_.

Until now.

He looked down at the man beside him. "Stop _smiling_ like that!" he snapped. Xin Wan had always unnerved him, and now finding out about what it was the man _did_ for the Dai Li...

Xin Wan did not stop. Instead, the smile widened ever so slightly. Hyo's eyes narrowed, but he didn't repeat himself. A _smile_, no matter how creepy, was not worth an actual order.

Hyo wanted nothing more than to _leave_. Leave Lake Laogai, leave this bed of... of... he wasn't sure what the word he wanted was, but whatever it was was not a nice word. Leave the Dai Li.

No. That was no good. If he were to leave, he would have to go all the way to the Upper Rings, fetch his wife and daughter, and then head all the way back out, and out of the city. That would work so well, being the man who killed Prince Lu Ten, outside the walls and the protection of the Impenetrable City.

Like it or not, he was stuck here.

"How is your wife doing?" Xin Wan intruded on Hyo's thoughts, raising the younger man's hackles. "Does she need a Joo Dee?" Hyo's jaw clenched, and the man went on, "Do _you_ need a Joo Dee?"

"No," the Commander managed to grind out.

"No? She's a pretty woman," Xin Wan pointed out.

Hyo could hear every undercurrent and innuendo in those simple sentences, and his anger rose. He kept it as hidden as he could, however, because it was obvious the shorter man was baiting him. "No."

"Very well, Hyo," was the innocent reply.

In answer Hyo gestured brusquely for Xin Wan to precede him from the room. He no longer wanted to look at that diabolical equipment. He didn't want to think about what went on in that room.

Xin Wan managed to look vaguely hurt and almost puppyish; clearly he wanted to show his new Commander more of the equipment. Hyo replied with the best glare he could muster, and Xin Wan put on even more of a wounded countenance.

Hyo met his eyes squarely, and Xin Wan held his gaze.

Neither man would look away, and it seemed as though they might just continue this for some time when someone cleared their throat behind the two men.

Xin Wan and Hyo both turned to see the Dai Li's sole trainee, Jae. The boy looked intimidated, and a little... Hyo didn't want to go there. "Sir," he said, addressing his Commander. "The Director wants to see you."

Oh, _good_. Hyo could divorce himself from this... mindbending.

"Right. Lead the way," he instructed the boy.

"Hyo."

The Commander of the Dai Li turned back to the older man, who was smiling even _wider_, if possible. "If you like, you could... _forget_ everything you've seen here."

Of the two men, Hyo was the faster.

At the end of a blur of motion, Xin Wan was pinned to the wall by his neck, feet off the floor, with Hyo holding him up with just his right hand, grey eyes burning with rage. His left arm, still swathed in bandages from the burns Prince Lu Ten had dealt him a week before, remained by his side as it still hurt to move.

Xin Wan, however, didn't waste any time trying to pry Hyo off of him. His hands slammed against the wall, and spikes erupted from the floor into Hyo's feet. The Commander clenched his teeth rather than let Xin Wan hear him cry out, then twisted, throwing the mindbender to the floor and past Jae. "Get out of the way, boy!" he yelled at the trainee.

Jae obeyed without protest, running back down the hallway and past Xin Wan, who moved so the boy could pass. They waited until the vibrations of his feet moved beyond their range, and then a bit longer to be certain -- both of them knew that this fight would be brutal, and catching a trainee up in that was unacceptable.

Xin Wan struck first, rising to his feet in a wave of motion and dragging a pair of saws of earth from the ground, then sending them flying at the younger man. Hyo ignored the pain in his feet to take one step back, then his right hand flew up, clenched in a fist. His focus zeroed in on the first saw, and he opened his hand; the saw shattered into dust. The second saw was too fast and too close; Hyo sidestepped and turned to one side, slamming his hand against the side of the stone and breaking it to bits so it couldn't be turned against him. At the same time as the sidestepp, he twisted one foot far to the side, turning the floor beneath Xin Wan's feet and burying him to his knees.

Xin Wan's smile was no longer a smile but a baring of teeth; he lifted both arms and the floor erupted into spikes. Hyo had to move fast to avoid getting injured further, and the mindbender took advantage of Hyo's distraction to break free of the floor.

With a sweep of his arm, the Commander tore a portion of the floor up from its foundation and heaved it at Xin Wan, but the older man had torn a large spike from the floor as well. When he threw that it tore through Hyo's block like lightning and Hyo had to dive to avoid being impaled. His dive took him straight into a wall; the Commander snarled and slammed his hand against it, breaking the entire wall down and expanding the area he had in which to move.

As he stumbled inside, he reached out with his earthbending and caught the portions of wall he had just torn down. Twenty years ago this would have been beyond him; now, however, it was a trifle to lift them all and throw them at his opponent.

Xin Wan gestured, and the first of Hyo's rocks slammed against a wall of stalactites and stalagmites formed by the mindbender just bare milliseconds before. Hyo could still feel him, though the sense of where the man was was muffled by pain and the still-ongoing vibrations of the rest of the wall slamming against the shield.

It was enough. He knelt, pressing his bad hand to the floor and gesturing with the other to build up a shield for himself, then reached into the wall _behind_ Xin Wan and began to tear it down.

Xin Wan, however, was not idle; just as the wall started to fall on him, a stone spike tore through Hyo's shielding rock and slammed deep into his left shoulder, driving the younger man to the floor.

However, Hyo was paying attention to the feel of Xin Wan through the stone, and so he noticed that rather than avoid the rockfall, the mindbender went with the flow -- and through the floor.

Tunnelling.

When Xin Wan came up again, Hyo was waiting.

Before the older man could react, heavy stone slammed into his shins like hammers, shattering bone and making him fall back -- right into the chair his victims would be strapped into. His arms, however, were still fine, and he gestured sharply.

If Hyo hadn't been moving, the spikes sprouting from the walls would have impaled him. As it was, they tore across his back and deep into his arms; he stumbled, but caught himself on the chair. Like lightning, his right arm came up and delivered a heavy punch to the side of Xin Wan's head, briefly stunning him. Before the older man could recover, Hyo strapped him to the chair and punched him a second time, this time in the gut.

Xin Wan doubled over in pain and gagged, the air knocked from his lungs. Shakily, Hyo drew to his feet. "I don't _need_to forget," he hissed.

It took a moment for the mindbender to get the air to reply, but reply he did. "If you didn't need to forget--"

The rocks on the headrest of the chair bent around and latched on to Xin Wan's face, effectively muffling the rest of that sentence.

"That's enough."

All the rage drained from Hyo in an instant, and he whirled to face Director Long Feng. He bit back a curse as the movement introduced new pain to his feet, but he refused to sit. Instead, he bowed to the Director. "Sir."

"Hyo," was the calm reply. Hyo was impressed; there was barely any sign of how angry the Director must have been. "What, precisely, is going on?"

The Commander was silent for a long moment, then offered, "Philosophical differences. Sir."

Long Feng said nothing to that, and instead moved forward to ascertain the damage the two men had done to each other, starting with Xin Wan. Hyo diverted most of his attention to remaining upright and ignoring the increasing lightheadedness and the pain in his feet, though when Long Feng moved to look him over he was starting to wobble slightly.

The Director pushed Hyo slightly, and the Commander fell backward-- into a chair of stone that hadn't been there when Long Feng came in. He hadn't even _felt_ Long Feng bend the chair up.

That was his last conscious thought for some time.

~*~

When Hyo woke, he realised that he was in the Dai Li infirmary. His wounds had been bandaged, but he was still dizzy from the blood he had lost during the fight. Slowly, he turned his head to look around, and saw Xin Wan in the bed beside him.

Xin Wan was not alone; there was a Joo Dee in a chair by his bed, reading to him from a scroll. After a moment's confusion, Hyo realised that she was probably there to make sure the mindbender didn't fall asleep. He'd still been wearing his stone gloves when he'd punched Xin Wan in the head, so there was danger of a concussion.

A moment later, Hyo realised that his thought were remarkably clear -- and that the pain in his feet was remarkably sharp.

Ah, of course. Long Feng had denied him painkillers. It was likely he had done the same with Xin Wan.

"Most people are polite enough to take off the gloves before they punch someone," Xin Wan said unexpectedly, his words slightly slurred.

Hyo turned his head to stare at the ceilings. "Most people are polite enough not to beg for a beating."

Xin Wan did not reply, and the Joo Dee started reading to him once more. Hyo closed his eyes rather than look at the ceiling, and listened to the to tale of the boy who found a djinni in a lamp who would grant him wishes.

The Joo Dee stopped near the end of the tale, and Hyo opened his eyes to see Long Feng in the doorway. "Sir," he said, and tried to sit up.

"Don't," said the Director, and Hyo let himself fall back.

"Yessir."

There was a long pause, perhaps to let both men know that the Director was still not happy with them. "The doctors inform me Liu will live," Long Feng said at last. "He is still severely damaged and will never fully recover." Hyo winced; it had been Liu who had recruited him into the Dai Li to begin with. During the last days of the siege, Liu had faced off against a firebender and taken a blast directly to the head, melting the lower half of his face as well as his throat. "As such, I am transferring him from the Middle Ring to Lake Laogai."

Well, that was better than it could have been. Liu could have simply disappeared. "Yes, sir," Hyo said quietly.

"Xin Wan," Long Feng said now, turning to the mindbender, "Liu is not as impulsive as Hyo can be," (Hyo bit back the urge to protest that he was not impulsive at all) "and if you push him too far, he is the type who will wait until the right moment to strike." He paused to let that sink in. "You are both valuable."

But clearly Liu was the more valuable of the two.

Another pause, then Long Feng turned once more to Hyo. "I am leaving you in the hands of the doctors. Hyo, they've been instructed to get you back on your feet as soon as possible."

Yes, Long Feng was definitely still angry with them. And likely would be for some time.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

_Xin Wan and Jae are the brainchildren of Rebecca Hb. and are used with her permission and input. Lyrics at the top of the story are from _Grace Kelly_ by Mika._

_No sir, Hyo does not like the mindbending.  
_


End file.
